Marvel Now 2(and a Half)
by Lets Do That Again
Summary: Because it could have been so much better.


Marvel Now! 2.5:

 **Spider-Man and all respective characters are property of Marvel.**

"Talking"

" _Thoughts"_

" **Symbiote speech"**

" _I've got a plan…but you're not going to like it"._

Spider-Man scoffed, _"_ It came out of your mouth Eddie, of course I wasn't going to like going to like _"_.

He then shook his head, hopping across a rooftop towards a tall, dark, menacing pillar of black smoke. He frowned as the right half of his vision started to fuzz up, and he took a moment to remove the broken glass from that lens, "Getting harder and harder to justify all these repairs," he muttered to himself.

He then shifted his gaze over to the flaming wreckage that was…that was…he tilted his head, "…Is that Liz's old neighborhood?"

He shook his head, swinging forward once more, mentally flashing back to the conversation he'd just had with Eddie Brock and the military.

" _You're going to go in and convince the Symbiote to merge with you again,_ " Brock had said sternly, " _After its free of Price, we'll come in with Sonics, and then capture it in a glass case. Then, we'll send that thing to some hole and let it rot till the End Times"._

Spider-Man scoffed, "If you'd had said that ten years ago, I would've thrown you across the room," he leapt off the roof of an apartment building, "Said that a year ago, I would've socked you in the face," he swung high in the air, letting go of his webline, entering a freefall, "Now…I should have bopped you on the nose…But still," he grumbled, "There's got to be a reason why Venom's gone psycho again, aside from Price anyway".

He could not believe he was even entertaining the thought, but he was willing to give the Symbiote the benefit of the doubt. If only because of that weird psychic link he and it had entered back when its demonic clone went nuts.

"…What the fuck happened to my life?" he groaned as he executed a three-point landing, just a block away from the Venom's wild, manic screeches.

He then ran forward, stopping just feet away from Venom, who was currently roaring at the military personnel standing a block away.

Spider-Man took a moment to steel his nerves, "I hope I'm right about this".

He stepped forward, "Hey, Venom!"

The amalgamation of man and goo whirled around at his voice, face twisting into a familiarly uncomfortable smile. " **Ssspider-Maaan** " he hissed.

Said hero suppressed a shudder. "Venom, seriously c'mon, what the hell's going on? Where's Flash?"

Venom's black and white flesh quivered, before he spoke, " **Flash is gone, for the better** ".

Spider-Man cocked a brow, "Is that you, or Price?"

Venom shook his head, " **It doesn't matter…WE ARE VENOM**!"

Spider-Man shook his head, "Okay, going to assume that was Price," he muttered to himself. Aloud, he said, "Venom, you're better than this. You've come too far to fall off the wagon now".

Venom's face shifted into a frown, before going back to its psychotic smirk. " **Don't bother Parker, I'm in control now** ," Price growled, stomping forward " **And there's no way I'm giving this power up!** "

Spider-Man sighed, "Flash is in some sort of trouble, huh?"

Venom flailed his head, Symbiote and host obviously vying for control

Spider-Man gulped, audibly, "…I'll take you back".

Venom stilled.

Spider-Man nodded, "Flash is in trouble, right? So, he's going to need some help, from both of us" he idly noted the various soldiers charging up their weapons, "It'll be just like old times, back when we were young," he raised he hand out, palm facing up, "Just you and me, against the world".

Venom's flesh was going into a frenzy now, stretching out and squishing in all over Price's body.

With a low sigh, Spider-Man shout a thin cord of webbing onto Venom's body.

The moment the white substance stuck onto Venom's body, he stilled. Then, the Symbiote oozed onto the webbing.

Price's head emerged from the Symbiote, "No, NO!" he roared, "What are you doing! You're mine!" The Symbiote started to struggle against Price's will, before slinking back onto his body. Price started to laugh.

Then, a black tendril grabbed a large stone, and slammed it against Price's temple.

As the man fell unconscious, the Symbiote surge forward.

Time slowed to a crawl, for Peter, as black ooze crept over his webbing. He heard the nearby soldiers begin barking commands, aiming their weapons down at them, and out of the corner of his eye he could see the glass case meant to imprison the Symbiote.

When the Symbiote was just inches away, his hand trembled.

When it touched his glove hand, he and it stilled.

He sucked in a breath, and pulled the Symbiote onto his body.

He quaked as the slimy, black ooze coated him from head to toe, seeping into his suit and gluing itself to his skin.

Peter heard a relieved sigh deep in his mind, but he ignored that in favor of jumping out of the way of a barrage of sonic blasts, far higher and faster than he was used too.

He could feel that the Symbiote was pleased with itself, but he ignored that as well as he landed on a rooftop just above Eddie and the other military commanders.

He noticed Brock glare at him with a fire he'd thought the former criminal had lost, "Spider-Man! What the hell are you doing?!"

Spider-Man shrugged, "Helping a friend".

Brock faltered, "You and—"

Spider-Man shook his head, "I'm talking about Thompson. He's gone AWOL in the middle of all this, and intend to follow him using the only lead I can readily use". He turned around, "Don't worry, I'll call you if I have any trouble".

He then shot out a webline, provided by the Symbiote, and pulled himself forward, ignoring Brock's enraged bellows.

He swung though New York's skyline, silent, reflective.

That silence was soon broken, however, by a quiet voice. " _ **This is nice**_ " the Symbiote whispered through their renewed bond.

Peter hummed, " _Well, don't get used to it, I'm only holding onto you until we find Flash_ ," he stuck onto the side of a high-rise, resting on his back as he overlooked the city, " _Now, since you aren't attached to a madman, where is Flash?"_

"… _ **I don't know**_ ".

" _You don't know?"_ Spider-Man asked sternly.

The Symbiote shuddered, forming a head from Peter's chest, staring at him (to Peter's mild discomfort), " _ **We were separated…forcibly**_ ".

" _Obviously,_ "

" _ **Flash was really angry, he didn't want to. He liked being bonded with me**_ ". The Symbiote then began to ramble.

Peter frowned, _"Hey, Venom. Focus, who separated you two?"_

Venom was silent.

" _Venom…"_

"… _ **I don't remember**_ "

Spider-Man sighed, lowering his head into his hands, " _Figures"._

" _ **I'm sorry**_ " the Symbiote whimpered.

Spider-Man took off his mask, tossing it in his hands, " _Save it, you're not at fault here…mostly anyway_ ".

He then shook his head, "All right," he said aloud, "You've obviously got some trauma from the separation so…I'm gonna call up the X-Men, see if they can spare a psychic".

" _ **So soon?**_ " Venom whispered, hurt.

Spider-Man narrowed his eyes, " _You knew this was only temporary_ ".

" _ **Does it have to be**_?"

Spider-Man sighed heavily, "You know what, I'm not having this conversation right now! It's late, I'm tired, I'm going to take a nap".

He glared at the inky substance, "And don't even think about doing that late night hero bullshit you pulled way back when! Pull any of that and I'll stuff you in an aquarium faster than you can blink!"

The Symbiote nodded sadly, " _ **Don't worry**_ ," Venom sunk back into Spider-Man's skin, " _ **I won't betray your trust, not again**_ ".

 **A/N: So, I saw Marvel Now 2.0: Venom #1-6 and thought, 'Fuck it, haven't read a Venom comic in a while'.** **And then I read it and…just…what the fuck, Marvel? Why the hell would you establish an entire goddamn mythos about how the Symbiote is inherently good, and it was a combination of being stuck in Otherworld, the traumatic separation form Spider-Man (and fucking Deadpool thanks to Time-Space fuckery) that turned it into a raving psycho instead of a force for good! Don't get me wrong, I love OG Venom…I just wish they didn't need to basically retcon an entire arc of character development. Then I decided to type this up, so…yeah. Later.**


End file.
